Bella's Change
by noddingnod
Summary: Bella changes, but not as expected. Edward accidently bites her, and so on. Kinda stupid summary I know, but this is my first story, so please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

I lay beside Edward on his massive bed, my head on his chest. He fingered my hair, winding strands between his fingers. I lay still, as still as is possible for a human, my head rising and falling ever so slightly as he breathed. From the other side of the room, the CD of his piano playing softly hummed, its sound too low to make any melody visible to my untrained ears. In my mind I could hear it however, its chords danced through my head. Slowly, I raised my hand, and absent-mindedly traced the words "Bella Cullen" on the bed.

"We're not even married yet." Edward broke the silence, an amused tone in his voice. "You're still Bella Swan - I didn't know you were so eager for matrimony."

I looked up at him, propping my head up on my arms, and leaned in close to touch my lips with his gently. "I love you," I murmured.

He smiled, and lifted his ochre eyes to mine. "I love you too, for all eternity."

A smile touched the corners of my mouth. I liked the sound of those three words, for all eternity. We would be together, no matter what. We were made for each other.

He seemed to read my thoughts, and with one finger, lifted my chin, when suddenly, he glanced up sharply, looking over my shoulder. I sat up properly, and turned around, curious to see. A moment later, the door flew open, and Alice came in, a bundle of thick wedding magazines in her arms. She flitted over to us and perched on the edge of the bed.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" She looked hard at us, and shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway, I need you two to decide on what type of centrepiece for the tables. I've got some-"

Edward put a hand up and she paused. "What?"

"Can you not show us some other time? While Bella eats perhaps?" he asked.

She sighed, her face falling, and walked, abnormally slowly, out, closing the door behind her.

Once again, we kissed, free from anyone's intrusion. I caressed the back of his head, he wrapped his strong arms around me. Our lips parted, and the room faded away behind us, everything was wiped from my mind - all I could think about was this moment. Then, unexpectedly, he started, and I felt a sudden pain in my tongue. An 'ouch' involuntarily came out of my mouth, sounding more pain-ridden then it normally would. His eyes had strain to the window, but now they were focused on me again. My face paled as I realised, and he watched me horror-struck.

"What have I done?" he whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

The three days in which I changed were hazy. I drifted in and out of consciousness, hearing my voice screaming although I couldn't control it. Sometimes, vague figures passed over me, and, although they came and went, there was always one who sat beside me, holding my white-knuckled hand, whispering soothing words.

Finally, the pain gradually faded away, lessening until I could barely feel it at all, and slowly, I became aware of voices around me.

"It's been three days now - she should be waking up soon, shouldn't she? What if something went wrong? What if-"

"Edward, it's alright. I saw her waking up today, so don't worry. Anyway, it's me who should be upset - what's going to happen to the wedding plans if she wants to drink the blood of the entire congregation?"

"Shut up with your stupid wedding plans, can't you? If you hadn't come into the room that day, this wouldn't have happened, would it?" There was a pause, and then he spoke again. "And why didn't you see this? You could have warned me."

I heard a sigh, and then, in a low voice, whoever was speaking said, "I don't know, I don't know why I didn't see this. I should have, I know but…"

I'd had enough. With a huge effort, I opened my eyes, and saw Alice and Edward sitting in two chairs, on either side of me. Squinting from the bright light in the centre of the room, I sat up.

"Bella!" Edward launched towards me, hugging me fiercely. I half-wrapped my arms around him, then let go. He sat back down, looking at me confused.

"Are you alright?"

I shook my head slowly. My eyes roamed around the room, looking for a way out. There was a deep craving inside me, I wanted - no I **needed **- to feed, it was all I could think of. My mind couldn't rest on Edward or anyone else - I pushed him aside, to be thought of later, once my thirst was satisfied. It occupied my entire being, my body trembled with the thought of it.

My body… I looked down at myself - my hands were the only bare skin I could see. They were pale, paler than my old human self, and though they still looked fragile, I was sure they were stronger than Emmet's. I could -

But no. I tried to control myself, tried to stop my mind straying to any topic other than my urgent need to satisfy the thirst.

I looked at Edward. He was watching me with concern. _"Let me go outside for a while," _I thought, my eyes fixed on his.

"Alice, why don't we let Bella come up and see everyone?" he asked.

She frowned, shaking her head. "No, you heard what Carlisle said. We have to wait for him down here."

I thought for a moment. Who was Carlisle? Then I remembered, a flashback from a previous life. I turned my gaze to Alice, and our eyes caught.

"It'll be fine, Carlisle won't mind."

"I suppose he won't be too bothered about it will he?" Alice said. "Come on, everyone will be so relieved she's okay."

I followed them up the steps out of the basement, and as we emerged on to the ground floor, I heard another voice.

"Where is she? Where's Bella?"

I didn't stop to think who it was, who it might be they were talking about. I could just smell the scent of blood, and it drove me, running, into the hallway, to jump onto the human and feed. Ravenously, I ripped the flesh apart, the aroma filling my nostrils. There were shouts behind me, but I ignored them, until I felt someone pulling me back quickly, and then more were there, trying to control me.

I fought against them, my teeth dragging through skin, but a coven's joined force has more strength than even a newborn, and although I resisted they managed to bring me back downstairs, from where I threw myself around the room, hurling my body against walls, screaming.

A few hours later - although I was no judge of time in my present state - Esme came down to me. Quietly, she sat in a chair, legs crossed, hands resting on them. I didn't like the look on her face - it was one of pity, and of all things, that was what I least wanted.

When she spoke, her voice trembled as though she were about to cry. "You just killed Mike, Bella. He arrived here, looking for you. He was so worried."

I couldn't speak. My voice refused to come out.


	3. Chapter 3

A Year Later

"That is not how it happened!" I laughed, shaking my head. "The shop assistant just decided to give it to me free, I didn't do anything!"

"Sure," Alice said, "Sure - you just happened to be looking right at him, controlling his thoughts, no doubt. You're as bad as Edward."

I looked over at where he was sitting, reading a book. "You know that's a compliment Alice, don't you?"

She smiled. "To you it is, maybe. Not me."

I was about to answer when I heard the living room door open and twisted around in my seat to see who it was - Esme stood in the frame, her face concerned. In seemingly one movement, she made her way across the room and slid in next to Alice on the sofa.

I glanced across at Edward again. He was looking down at his hands - they twisted in his lap, where his book lay, momentarily abandoned. A deep frown was dented into his forehead, strands of bronze hair fell across it.

"We're going to have to move." My head shot up, astonished at the words Esme had just uttered.

"What?" Alice shrieked, "Why?"

Esme sighed and shook her head. "Carlisle just decided now. Someone from the hospital saw Rose and Emmet in the woods when they're supposed to be 'away'. He mentioned it to him, and Carlisle's worried it might lead to something more. And in any case, we'd have had to move sometime. We're just speeding it up a bit now."

There was silence for a moment, until Edward said, quietly, "When?"

"As soon as possible," Esme replied, for the benefit of Alice and me. "Since the pair of you didn't turn up at Dartmouth, there's no point in pretending you're all at college. We're thinking of enrolling all six of you in high school - how would you like to go back again so soon Bella?"

I grimaced. "At least this time I'll be better in gym."

"Oh you think?" Edward laughed, his eyebrows raised.

"Edward," Esme warned. "Anyway, Bella you're going to have to talk to Charlie, tell him where you're going. Just make up a story - there's no need to tell the truth."

Yes, because the truth would involve a number of mythical creatures for one reason. I nodded. "I'll go do it now then." Inside, I quaked. Trying to explain to Charlie, when I had been distancing myself from him for so long would be difficult.

As I drove through the wet streets of Forks, the rain pounding against the windscreen, worry began to creep up on me. Charlie would be angry, very angry, probably more than when Jake had betrayed me. He'd suspect something too, notice the changes in my physical appearance, which though seemingly slight, still marked me as one of the Cullens. My skin was pale, even more so when in contrast with the dark brown colour of my hair. Indistinct shadows lurked under my eyes, although they were less pronounced than usual, I having fed last night. I still however considered myself to be of an inferior beauty to Edward, although he disagreed strongly.

I still had the front door key in my back pocket, and nervously, I stepped inside, shaking the rain out of my hair.

"Dad?" I called out.

"Is that you Bella?" The reply came from the kitchen, and I followed it in, to where Charlie sat at the table, spoon poised in his hands over a bowl of what appeared to be powder soup. He looked older, more wrinkles seemed to have appeared on his face, stubble dotted his chin.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, not attempting to hide the tone of disapproval in his voice.

"I just dropped by to tell you something."

He watched me as I pulled out the chair opposite and sat down, surveying me so deeply that inside I blushed.

"You've changed Bella. Not just your looks, but everything," he said, confused. "Normally you would have tripped over something by now."

I faked a laugh, and quickly hurried on. "We're moving," I said quickly, attempting to get it over with as fast as possible. "The Cullens and me. Carlisle's just got a job in a hospital somewhere else, and he and Esme have decided it's time for a change of scenery."

He shook his head, disbelief plastered over his face. "You've not contacted me for six months and now you show up to tell me you're moving away with that boyfriend of yours." He spat out the word, his cutlery clattering to the table as he spoke. "You think this the way to repay me for everything I've done for you? For letting you come stay with me? For your truck? For me allowing him into my house? You know what Bella? This is the last straw. Just get out. Call me when he's left you with a baby, and you need my help. Just go." He stood up, and inwardly, I quaked.

"I love you Dad, okay? I do, but this is my life, not yours. I should be able to live it the way I want to." I tried, slightly unsuccessfully, to imitate Alice's persuasive, pleading face. "Please." Already, I could see his angry façade cracking, and determined to leave before I said anything to offend him again. "Goodbye Dad. I'll ring you soon, I promise."

He nodded, and awkwardly reached down to hug me, then turned around and left the room. I stood there for a moment, listening to the sound of his shoes heavily treading the carpeted stairs, then took one last look around me, and exited the room, sadness hitting me as I stepped out into the rain. This would be the last I would see my father for who knows how long. I couldn't help but be heavyhearted.


	4. Chapter 4

I stared out the window quietly as Carlisle's Mercedes purred its way down the town's main street, my hand tightly enclosed in Edward's. Watching the rain pelt against the windscreen reminded me of Forks, nostalgia and regret inched up on me. Had I been human I would have cried - instead I gripped Edward's hand tighter, his fingers caressing mine. As we left the town outskirts and continued into the countryside, the rain began to fade away, until it formed only a slight drizzle. The trees thickened the further we drove, even more so when Carlisle turned into a narrow side road. Branches struck against the car, others cracked beneath the wheels as we wound down the small drive, finally coming into view of the house after a few minutes. It was a large building, surrounded on all sides by woods, so close in some places that the leaves pressed up against the panes. It was almost identical to the old Cullen house.

"You don't think that after a lifetime, you'd want a change?" I asked.

He chuckled, and gently lifted me out of the car. The ground beneath my feet was damp with rain, and I shivered involuntarily, a habit of a previous life.

"Ready to look inside?"

I nodded, and we followed Esme and Carlisle in. The others had arrived earlier, in Alice's Porsche, subject to her ferocious speed, and had already claimed their rooms. I looked in on Alice, where she knelt on the floor, digging through one of the many cardboard boxes of clothes. She glanced up and saw us in the doorframe.

"I can't find my black skirt!" she wailed. "You know, the one I got in Port Angeles last week!"

I made to help her in her search but Edward pulled me back before I had placed both feet inside the room.

"Let's go see what ours is like, before you go helping Alice for the next few hours," he said under his breath, and led the way down the hall to the end room where he opened the door for me, standing back to let me pass. Inside, it was huge, bigger than Alice's, with windows overlooking the front drive. Already furnished, a king-sized bed stood near the door, with an LCD tv on the wall opposite. Next to it, was a wardrobe and a chest-of-drawers, inside of which someone had already unpacked my clothes, bought with Alice during a recent shopping spree.

"Wow," I murmured.

"Good, isn't it?" Edward replied, positioning himself on the bed, tv remote in his hand. I sat next to him, my head against his shoulder. He flicked through the channels impatiently, then turned it off and laughed. "Alice thinks I've taken her skirt as a joke, she says she's going to kill me if it was. And she says to you that she got you the perfect outfit for school tomorrow."

I groaned and nestled into his chest. "I don't want to go. Do we have to?"

"Come on, it'll be fun. You'll be able to put random rumours into peoples heads, I'll be able to hear what they're thinking. What could be better?"

I shrugged half-heartedly. "Not going to school at all would be better." Knowing there was no point in arguing, I stood up reluctantly and joined the others downstairs, Edward close behind me, and whiled away the hours until morning.

It looked set to be a warm day. The sun shone through the sparse clouds, and I saw the first glimmer of blue I had seen in over a week. Speeding along the road in Rosalie's convertible, the area seemed a lot better than yesterday evening. Impatiently, she waited in the queue of cars at the school entrance, drumming her manicured fingers on the steering wheel - her skill at manicures, acquired over the years, would rival any professional. Like Forks, the cars here were completely unostentatious, and Rosalie's was conspicuous, to say the least. Heads turned to stare at it, and Rosalie herself, after shaking her blonde hair down from the ponytail and donning a pair of giant shades, generated just as many looks, perhaps even more. Emmet walked at her side, a burly arm wrapped protectively around her back, and the crowds of teenagers unconsciously stood back to let them pass. The four of us followed in their wake, Alice half dancing on the pavement next to Jasper, I raising my head only slightly to glance at the faces around us. Nervously, I gripped Edward's hand tighter and sensing my worry he pulled me closer.

The reception was a small cream-coloured room, adorned with framed certificates and newspaper clippings, hung sporadically on the walls. In the corner was a trophy cabinet, and I wandered over to look at it while the rest dealt with the secretary behind the desk. Elderly and greying, she flicked through the files and paperwork with her glasses perched on the tip of her nose, the perfect picture of a receptionist. I caught only snatches of their conversation, but when they were done, and had received the class schedules, Edward beckoned me over and handed me mine.

"We're all in the same classes," he smiled. "You'll be sitting next to me, right?"

I nodded, happy in the knowledge that we wouldn't need to be separated, and gentlemanly, he took my arm and led me out into the packed corridor. I wondered vaguely where the others were until I noticed Jasper coming up on Edward's other side.

"Where're Alice and Emmet?" he asked, "Rose's gone off to get her bag from the car by the way, she forgot it there."

"Gone to our classroom," he answered, "Bella and I are just heading over to meet them there."

Jasper nodded. "See you in a moment then." He disappeared into the crowd, leaving us to swarm our way through the throngs of students at a human pace.

"Room 22," Edward muttered, his eyes darting along the doors. "Here we are." He stopped at a nondescript wooden door with a frosted glass pane, upon which was painted the number. A blur passed before my eyes, and before I realised what was happening the rest of the Cullens were beside us.

"Got lost." Emmet glared at his brother. "_Someone_ thought we were in a different building."

"No, I said tha-" Jasper protested, but stopped short as Alice placed a finger to her lips. "The teacher's already in there," she breathed.

Raising his eyebrows, Edward swiftly knocked on the door, and an echo of a 'Come in' sounded from behind. He made his way inside, holding the door open for us behind him, and approached the teachers desk.

I half-hid behind Emmet's bulky form, rather to seem invisible than to be subject to the stares of our future classmates. They looked at us curiously, amazed even, to see six newcomers in a town which so rarely had new inhabitants.

After looking at the note Edward handed him from the receptionist, the teacher paused for a moment, setting it down before him. "So there are… six new pupils?" His eyes roamed over us individually. "Six?" Edward nodded. "Alright then. So, your names must be…" He rustled through the papers on his desk, sheets floating to the ground around him and picked one up from beneath a heavy textbook, surveying it. "So you must be," he repeated, "Jasper and Rosalie Hale, Alice, Emmet and Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan - is that right?" In response to the yes' which issued from all of us, he added, sounding mildly confused. "And you're all brothers and sisters, are you? Aren't you all a bit old to be in the sophomore year?"

I sighed inwardly, and looked around in desperation for an answer from someone, anyone but me.

Alice came to the rescue. She advanced upon the desk in her airy gait, and paused slightly behind Edward. "We're adopted," she replied, "And we missed a year of school to go travelling with our foster parents, so we had to be put in a lower class."

The point of his tongue slowly ran along his upper lip, just underneath a barely-there moustache, as he searched for an answer, finally coming up with, "Well I'm Mr Barnett. And luckily we have some empty seats today so why don't you go sit down?"

Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a pair of seats together at the very back, directly behind where Alice now sat. She pulled a face at Jasper across the room, obviously bemoaning the distance at which they were parted. As Mr Barnett moved towards the blackboard to write up a list of French verbs, she turned around in her chair and looked at me meaningfully. I half-smiled, and with a quick movement she gestured to a boy sitting in the next row, but I shook my head. It was too early to begin a rumour now, lunch perhaps. She shrugged and turned back to face the front, clicking open a pen to take down the infinitives now on the board.

I looked around the room, while everyone else began writing, pens scratching on the paper, and felt a tiny poke from my left. Edward leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Are you alright? I mean, is it too hard for you with all these humans around?" Then, without waiting for me to answer he rushed ahead. "Because I don't mind ditching class today, if you want. We can say you feel sick."

I upturned my face to his and smiled what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "It's fine, honestly. See? I'm not breathing. Don't worry."

"I suppose you never were one to stand blood." He looked like he was about to add something, but with a miniscule shake of his head he seemed to dismiss it from his mind, and turned back to his book.

Reluctantly, I opened my notebook, and turned to the next page, but as I glanced up to the blackboard, I noticed a girl sitting across the aisle, staring at me intently. I caught her eye, and her stare intensified, almost into a glare. With a quick movement of her hand she tossed a folded piece of paper at me.

Mystified, I caught it - almost missing, but my vampire reflexes were a lot better than my past human ones had been - and set it down on the table in front of me. Edward looked on as I quickly unfolded it, smoothing out the creases. My eyes darted at the girl before I read it. Her head was bent to her notebook, dark curly hair hiding her face, although I was sure she was furtively watching us. I looked down again, at the small, neat handwriting.

"_I know who you all are," it read._


	5. Chapter 5

"She can't be telling the truth! It must be some sort of joke," Alice shrieked. "There's no way she could know, I didn't see it! It must be a lie."

Carlisle shook his head. "If it was a lie, or if she was just joking, then she wouldn't have written that note. She must have known us for what we are, maybe she'd come across some before." He sounded slightly panicked, completely unlike his usual calm self, and it scared me to see him like this.

"Well? What are we going to do then?" Edward tightened his hold of me, and I leaned my head against his hard shoulder.

"I don't know," Carlisle replied despondently, "Perhaps, just perhaps, it might not be true. But we can't take any chances, and nor can we rely on your gift Alice, there seems to be a lot going through the cracks recently."

"So what should we do?" Edward repeated impatiently.

"The only thing we can do," Carlisle sighed. "Go back to school tomorrow. If she's telling the truth, I highly doubt she'll let anyone know, I'm sure she's well aware of what we'd be able to do. Bella, try to convince her we're normal. She might resist though if she knows about the talents, she might have a suspicion about yours."

I nodded. "Anything I can do to help." Esme smiled at me from across the dining room table, and I felt relieved for almost a moment, until I realised the gravity of the situation, and then all my previous worry came crashing down upon me again.


	6. Chapter 6

Carefully, I backed into a parking space near the main entrance. My car, a sleek black Lexus, was a temporary loan from Edward; he considered it part of a penance he had to serve for changing me accidentally, although in this case it was a good thing he wasn't able to read my thoughts - he would probably get abnormally angry if he found out I was actually grateful for skipping the wedding. I had a feeling, however, that Alice had neither forgotten about it nor given up on it.

Think of the devil and the devil shall appear, I thought grimly, as Alice darted into my view. She tapped on the window gently, and reluctantly I lowered it.

"What?" Instantly, I regretted my tone, after all it wasn't her fault I was in such a bad mood, but she seemed not to notice.

"Will you and Edward hurry up? We've been waiting here for ages." She gestured towards her Porsche, in which I could see the others, staring straight ahead out the windscreen.

I nodded, and swung the door open, stepping out into the drizzle, with Edward following me closely. Alice smiled and beckoned for the rest of the family. They were outside in a second, shrugging on raincoats.

"Let's go," Rosalie called, already half way across the carpark. It looked like we were late for class - we were the only ones outside and even the corridors were empty. Our footsteps seemed louder than usual, except, of course, for Alice's whose feet seemed as though they barely trod on the ugly green tiles. We paused outside the classroom. From behind the door came the sound of Mr Barnett's loud unappealing voice - I shuddered at the sound of it.

"Better get this over with," Emmet muttered, and led the way inside.

The teacher swivelled around in his chair to face the door when he heard it open. "Nice of you to join us Mr Cullen." His eyes darted along the line of us following but made no further comment - sometimes it was good to have a brother as threatening looking as Emmet. Mr Barnett was weak in comparison.

Slipping into my seat, I cast a tiny glance at the girl across the aisle. She sat, completely normal looking, slouched across the desk, her eyes closed - it appeared she was asleep, but there was something about her demeanour which made me suspect she was aware of our proximity - obviously she was faking. I turned back to face the board, and prepared for a long class of anxiety.

Halfway through I noticed she sat up, and began to flick through the novel we were studying.

"What should I get her to think?" I wrote on a scrap of paper and pushed it over to Edward, and watched his pen fly across the sheet.

"Anything," I read, "So long as it convinces her we're not who we are." I looked over at her; the back of her head was all I could see, thick curls strayed down her back. Finally she half-turned around, her eyes fixed on mine, almost accusingly.

"_The new kids look pretty friendly," _I thought quickly, making it up on the spot, _"It'd be nice to sit with them at lunch, maybe have a chat." _Inwardly, I trembled. On the one hand, if we acted like average teenagers, she would accept us as such, on the other, the possibilities of a mistake were so high I instantly regretted that idea. Her eyes moved from mine, and I saw her glance around at the rest of us, her gaze falling upon Jasper. I thought I saw a smile turn up the corners of her lips, but the next second it was gone, and she had turned back to her desk, to flick through the novel we were studying.

"What's she thinking?" I leaned over to Edward to whisper in his ear.

He didn't answer for a moment, and a flash of worry troubled his face, then he bent his head and kissed the top of my forehead. "Nothing momentous."

"Tell me!"

He shook his head slightly and turned back to face the front just in time for the teacher to notice our lack of attention. The class dragged on, minute after minute of pure and utter boredom - I no longer felt the need to listen and to learn, as who kne2 how many high schools I would, in the future, attend?

By the time lunch arrived, I was completely phased out, my head in my hands, daydreaming. Edward had taken down pages of notes, two perfect replicas of all the teachers lessons, one of which he handed to me as we left the classroom. We lingered behind the rest of the students, in no rush to get to the cafeteria.

When we did get in, students looked up from the low budget school meals and followed us until we joined the queue, where they leaned in together, whispering amongst themselves. I glanced around self-consciously, lowering my head once I felt eyes upon me. Turning back to face the food options, I pulled a salad and a soda onto a tray and followed Emmet and Jasper's lead to the farthest table, right up against the wall. Edward and Alice slid in on either side of me, identical trays in front of them. Absentmindedly I picked at the salad, separating the different colours of leaves to give me something to do.

Rosalie broke the silence, half-smirking. "Your friend's coming over here Bella." Her eyes fixed on someone behind me.

Shocked, I glanced around, and saw her walking towards us, tray of food in hand. Dropping it down on the table, she sat down next to Jasper, opposite me, so nonchalantly that it was as though she had been doing it since forever. Jasper inched away a fraction, turning his body so that it was faced away slightly. She seemed not to notice, and if she did she obviously didn't care. Peeling off the lid on a yoghurt she looked up at the rest of us, who were staring at her in utter disbelief. Alice and Rosalie were whispering to each other below their breath, talking so quickly and quietly I couldn't catch the drift of their conversation. Ignoring them, I plucked up my courage - which, might I add, was so scanty that I was alarmingly similar to the Lion in the Wizard of Oz -, put down my soda, the straw of which I had been subtly holding in my mouth, and prepared to speak.

"So, what did you say your name was?" My voice trembled only a tiny bit, although it was still embarrassingly noticeable.

"I didn't. It's Phoebe though," she replied. "But I know yours, Bella. And the rest of you." She gestured to the rest of the table with her spoon. Edward was looking down at his hands, clenched together, and a deep worried frown was dented into his forehead. Then, she continued, a knowing smile on her lips. "I know what you all are too, but it's okay, I won't tell anyone. So long as you do something for me."

"What?" Emmet growled, his muscled arms laid out threateningly on the table.

"Just something small. I won't tell you now though, I just need to plan out a few little details," she answered calmly.

Shell-shocked, I stuttered, "How?"

Phoebe lifted her eyes to me from her lunch. "How did I find out you mean?" She smirked. "That's for me to know, and for you to find out - I can't tell you, or at least, not right now." She ate the rest of her meal slowly, in no rush, then rose, and left the cafeteria, leaving her tray on the table. None of us spoke for a moment or two until Rosalie asked quietly, "How does she know what we are Edward?"

He shrugged, but she pursued it. "How? This is important." There was silence again for a minute or so, and then Alice said, in an even quieter tone than her sister's, "You can't read her mind, can you Edward?"


	7. Chapter 7

For once, the sun was shining. A few clouds still gathered around it, greying near the edges, but overall it was a good day weatherwise, at least for most of the inhabitants of our new town. For us, on the other hand, the days surprisingly sunny outlook merely meant a day off school. Edward, Jasper and Alice had left early in the morning to go hunting, leaving the rest of us behind to waste away the time until their return. I spent the afternoon watching television, sprawled on the living room sofa, boredom setting in after the first half hour of daytime tv. Esme hovered in the background, flicking through books from the shelves, one of which I noted with surprise was of recipes. Emmet and Rosalie had disappeared, no doubt unwilling to join my fate of soap operas, but midway through a fight between a husband and a wife - who happened to be pregnant with her brother-in-law's child - they returned. Rosalie came in first, slipping through the doorway quietly, and sat down next to me, drawing her knees up to her chin. She glanced over at me and smiled, then looking at something above my head, she grinned conspiratorially. Twisting around, I saw Emmet looming over the head of the sofa.

"What are you doing?" I asked warily.

He smirked. "Come on, we want to show you something."

Raising my eyebrows slightly at the plural, I followed him and Rosalie out of the room, until they halted next to the front door.

"Don't look," Emmet ordered, placing a burly hand over my eyes.

"No!" I protested, "I can't see, I'll fall over."

Rosalie laughed quietly and suddenly, in one movement, I felt myself being lifted off the ground and thrown over Emmet's shoulder. "Remember," he said, "No looking."

Obediently, I closed my eyes, and waited until Emmet stopped long enough to put me down. "Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied, "You can open them now."

Frowning slightly, I looked up to see all the Cullen siblings standing in front of me in the garage. Only as I was about to ask what was going on did I notice what Edward was standing alongside of. He had a hand on it, almost protectively, and he was watching my expression closely. Quickly, I tried to rearrange my face into something which at least looked a bit happier. "Wow," I murmured, moving my gaze from Edward, and onto the car by his side. It was dark and sleek, and, I noted with relief, not overly ostentatious.

"Do you like it?" he asked eagerly, one hand reaching out to open the door for me.

"Edward I love it, it's perfect," and for once, that was almost true. It was just the money side I had a problem with. "How much did-"

Alice cut me off. "You're part of the family now Bella - what's ours is yours." She grinned at me. "Don't you want to see what it looks like inside?"

Hesitantly, I slid in behind the steering wheel, onto the soft leather seat. Edward got in beside me, his face elated. "I don't know why I even waited so long to get you one - I had no idea you'd be gracious about it," he said, inspecting the many dials on the dashboard.

"Is it me who'll be driving this car, or you?" I wondered aloud.

He kissed the top of my head gently. "This isn't a present for myself, Bella. And, really, I think you're capable of driving without causing any road carnage, aren't you?"

Momentarily doubtful, I glanced up through the windscreen, noticing that the rest of them were gone. "Do you want to try it out?" Edward whispered in my ear, and I focused on him again.

"Sure," I replied, feeling a tinge of nostalgia as I thought about my old truck sitting in Charlie's drive. Carefully, I backed out, then heard Edward inhale loudly.

"What?" I asked, panicking. "Did I hit something?"

"Almost…" he answered, grimacing.


End file.
